Hide and Seek
by spideydance
Summary: What happens when a young girl close to Prince Rasler is forced to handle and accept his untimely death? "Hide-and-seek is his favorite game." One-shot, comes before The Games We Play.


Summary: **"Hide-and-seek is his favorite game." What happens when a young girl close to Prince Rasler tries to handle and accept his untimely death? **

This is my first FFXII fan-fiction/one-shot/thing. Hope you enjoy reading it! I don't know if the hide-and-seek concept is overplayed already, but I wanted to do it anyway...

Oh, and before I forget, the disclaimer! I do not own Final Fantasy XII or anything/anyone in it. If I did, Balthier would have ended up with Vaan... just kidding! BalFran forever! I still don't own it, though. The only person I own is Anastacia, my OC. Sorry for holding you up... read on!

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**Hide and Seek**

Plump, dark clouds were scattered around the firmament, threatening to burst at any moment and allow the sky to release its heavy tears. Warning Rabanastre's dwellers of a forthcoming storm, the wind howled and clawed away at anything that stood still around the great city.

With the knowledge that even the great city could not save them from a natural disaster, all of Rabanstre's citizens dove back into the safety of their homes. The streets were now deserted; it would look to a newcomer a ghost of the bustling city it usually was. This was exactly what it was to Anastacia, except she was not a newcomer, for she had lived here for half a year already.

What she failed to understand was why every Rabanastran who had come her way looked so sad, so mournful... and to her, no less! Pairs of mothers and daughters approached her and offered their tears, their words, and their unnecessary embraces, but why? She knew not. Tears and condolences could not aid her in her search for her beloved Rasler.

_You've always been good at hide-and-seek._

Skipping on every other square brick towards the Cathedral, Anastacia paused and squinted her eyes up at the sky. It would not give. Surely King Raminas had sent help after her now... but they would not find her until she found her Rasler. A double hide-and-seek! She laughed at the thought, and knew he, too, would certainly be amused by that once she told him.

"There she is! Lady Anastacia!"

Anastacia whipped her head around to see the Dalmascan soldiers she thought were arriving and quickly turned on her heels, only stopping to decide where to run. The palace was no good, and neither was the Cathedral... she hastily chose a narrow column supporting one of the many complex architectures of Rabanastre.

_It's unfair, you know. Show yourself! At least a small clue to lead me..._

Luckily, the general helmet of Dalmascan soldiers covered their heads so carefully that they could not see through their peripheral vision unless they lifted their visors, which they did not, so Anastacia was suddenly out of sight. She heard the soldiers panic for a moment before dispersing to resume the search for her. Sighing in relief once they were gone, Anastacia's legs gave way and allowed her to slide downward against the column. She fell on her posterior. It was very unladylike, very unbecoming of a princess, Rasler would surely jest; but there was no one to judge her now.

She closed her eyes, but not before shining particles of periwinkle and royal purple flickered past her vision. Gasping, Anastacia stood and cautiously tilted her head to the side. No soldiers, but...

_And the game truly begins once more!_

She found him! The shining particles of periwinkle and royal purple still fluttered about him, but Anastacia disregarded this and smiled. She held her hand out to touch him; he did not respond in kind. Rasler turned around and ran for the Cathedral, but not before turning his head back and motioning for her to follow.

The only other Rabanastrans out of their homes that day were in the Cathedral, Anastacia found out as she rushed into the large edifice. The preacher did not pause nor open his eyes to look at her and continued, "Guide your spirit's return to the Mother of All..." All dressed in black garments, the Dalmascans seemed to have been praying fervently before her heavy footsteps broke the silence.

"What are you doing?" Anastacia shrieked breathlessly, drawing everyone's attention. A black casket lay before the preacher, and in it... "That... that is not Rasler!" She tore her angry eyes away from the body in the casket and turned to the woman kneeling before it. "Ashelia?" She began to tug at Ashelia's arms, forcing the girl one year her senior out of her reverie. "Ashelia, what are you doing? Rasler, I just-"

Anastacia released Ashelia as the girl looked up to her with saddened, almost disappointed eyes. "Anastacia Selene Heios Nabradia... Why are you saying these things? Rasler... Rasler, he is-"

"He is here!" Anastacia interrupted, shaking her head furiously. "I saw him! Did you not? I found him! Who then is this... this impostor?" She pointed accusingly at the body as she turned around to face the crowd of both surprised and appalled mourners, including King Raminas. Marquis Halim Ondore IV, too, watched her in astonishment.

King Raminas, in all his glory, stood from his position and sorrowfully approached Anastacia. All the Rabanastrans who came to her before came to her mind again as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lady Anastacia. I cannot say that I know the pain of losing someone so close as a-"

"I've only lost him because you all continue to believe that this – this impersonator – is my brother!" Anastacia tore away from King Raminas' grasp and turned back to the crowd. Familiar steel blue eyes met hers; she turned away in disgust at the pity they sent her way. "You're all mad! Mad! My Rasler is not... you'll see! I _will_ find him!" she bellowed, and promptly turned to follow the small fragments of periwinkle and royal purple her brother left for her.

"Lady Anastacia!" A deep, resounding voice called to her, but she was already lost in her game. Their game. It brought her to the steps that led to the top of the Cathedral, where the wind grated at her skin and tried to push her back down, down where the impostor lay. She would not give, no matter how exhausted she felt. Anastacia would seek as long as Rasler hid.

Pushing against the fierce blows of the current, Anastacia managed to wrap her arms around one of the narrow and thin pyramid-shaped pillars atop the Cathedral. Supported by the shining particles buzzing around him, Rasler floated across her with his smile; the mischievous smile that had prompted her to play his favorite game with him for so many years.

Uncle Halim began it all; it was he who introduced the game to them as children. After losing as the seeker thrice, Rasler would always ask Anastacia to be the seeker, and always she would acquiesce to his wishes without a question. Tearing through Castle Nabudis and knocking most of the valuables down in pursuit of her clever older brother, she would tackle Rasler once he was found and claim victory with an unladylike pound to her chest (this earned them constant scoldings from their parents while Marquis Ondore IV looked on in amusement).

Later, when Rasler and Ashelia's courting process began, the latter joined their little diversion. Unbeknownst to his fiancée, Rasler would take her to different places around the kingdom while hiding, in effect, from Anastacia. Just as Rasler thought he would win, Anastacia would always surprise him and Ashelia by bombarding their quarters with presents before appearing herself and having a small banquet, wherever they were, prepared in their name.

The game ceased after Rasler and Ashelia's wedding, Anastacia respectfully acknowledging Ashelia's right to play her own game with her beloved brother.

But then he rode to war, to aid their father...

"Lady Anastacia!"

...and the game began again. Rasler was here now. She could once more attain victory when she touched him. Unaware of her wind-burnt skin, she let go of the pyramid-shaped pillar and pushed herself forward. Anastacia teetered on the edge of the top of the Cathedral, stretching her arms and fingers beyond their limits to reach her brother.

Just a bit more...

Anastacia did not even notice the eager – almost feral – look in _her brother_'s eyes.

She would... she could reach him if he just...

"Lady Anastacia!" a deep voice, the same voice from before, finally succeeded in bringing her back to her senses as its owner violently yanked her back to moderately stable ground. Rasler now gone from her line of vision, Anastacia looked up to the man who dared take her away from him. The same eyes that caught her attention downstairs met her own amber pools once more.

"Sir Basch..." she whispered.

Anastacia had been introduced to him before, when she first arrived in Rabanastre to help her future sister-in-law with wedding preparations (Ashelia said the man had been there forever, but she never noticed him if that was true, as she was always too busy with their games). They had regarded each other as no one of remote importance in their personal lives, she was sure, for while he knelt and she curtseyed, it was completely out of respect for each other's Kings.

Anastacia did not remember speaking with him again until he and her brother were about to leave for war. Under these circumstances did their view of each other change, when she desperately begged him to protect Rasler, and he swore by his sword that he would do all he could not to break her heart. But while they then had respect for each other, she was still the princess of a falling kingdom, and he was just a knight.

"I've failed you," he shook his head sadly, cradling her fragile sixteen year-old body in his war-bred arms. "Lady Anastacia, your brother-"

"No!" Anastacia heaved herself up and turned back to the pillar. She knew what he would say, and she wanted no lie to pass from his handsome lips. It was a lie, wasn't it? Her brother could not be...! "Why can't you see him?" she cried once more, pointing to Rasler's figure amidst the dust storm. "He is waiting for me. Let me go!"

"Lady Anastacia!" Basch demanded her attention once again, but the cry that his rough hand's grip on Anastacia's comparatively soft skin elicited from her was all the difference he needed to remember his place. He loosened his hold. "Lady Anastacia, Lord Rasler is dead."

Anastacia stared up at him with widened eyes; her right seemed to twitch. "But... we were just playing-"

"I am aware, Lady Anastacia. Hide-and-seek was his favorite game..."

"Is! You're wrong... Hide-and-seek _is_-"

"...but he is lost now. Lord Rasler has passed on to play another game. When it is your turn – which I hope it will not be for a very long time – you may seek him again. But not now, when life has still much to offer."

This seemed to calm Anastacia to a point, as she had stopped struggling. Her resolve wavered and her knees buckled when Basch's words sank in. Allowing the captain to scoop her up and carry her to the stairs, Anastacia glanced back at Rasler, only to find that he was no longer there. No shining particles or unusual colors; just Rabanastre as it was before he left.

The winds were at peace now. Dark clouds still covered the heavens and the sky still wished to weep; Anastacia did not doubt that it would be like this for a very long time.

Rasler was dead.

But she knew she would not cry, for she knew Rasler would not _bawl_ the moment he could not find her. After all, he was just hiding now, playing another game as he waited for her to find him. And she would, she would, when it was time.

For now, there were many other people to find. Mama was gone even before and now Papa was gone, too, but she always had the idea that he had sent her to Rabanastre to seek a suitable husband. Papa wished for her to find someone as Ashelia had found her brother. Why else would he ever have asked her which of the knights she found the kindest, the handsomest? This would be challenging...

Basch grunted and apologized as he shifted her in his arms to find her a more comfortable position.

...but perhaps not as challenging as she thought it would be. Anastacia squinted her eyes up at the sky again, a small smile tugging at her dry lips.

_Brother... take care of mama and papa for me. I will find you, I promise._

_Wait for me!_

It was in a peaceful state that Basch later found Anastacia in, unaware that he was the young princess's new intention. Because of this blindness, he would ride to war again the next day, leaving Anastacia alone with her game. She could never, however, forget him, and held her promise to her brother that she would one day find the two of them.

No matter if Basch's execution was announced a few months later...

Anastacia would need only two years to learn how to win hide-and-seek with a dead man.

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I only realized how alike Anastacia was to the Anastasia of the movie (you know, the one with all the songs and Rasputin and that white bat XD) in terms of seeing old family members and almost dying, but I assure you that when I was making this, Anastasia did not come to mind at all. I've always just loved the name Anastacia. Not the singer. The name (though I actually wrote this fic before I knew of the singer). And Anastacia didn't actually fall in love with Basch, she just thought of him as the ideal... Mr. Right, if you will.

I hope you're still awake by the time you're done reading this, heheh. I would like constructive criticism, if you wouldn't mind. It is badly needed and greatly appreciated here! I really want to improve on my writing, so any advice (except 'stop writing' or 'give up') is really appreciated, whether it be sent through PM or review.

I'm kind of thinking of making a sequel, wherein Anastacia finds Basch two years later. She'll probably become even more of a Mary-Sue, though... Which is why I need concrit to make her un-Mary Sue-ish. Wanna make it. Can't. Must. AHH. Help.

Thank you for reading!


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